[Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of updates for the past few days, Got very sick]
Misora stared at the screen with a trembling expression, her entire body was completely tense with focus. The girl standing next to her looked at her strange expression with concern.
"Class Rep… are you okay?" she asked tentatively.
However, Misora nodded without looking away from the display.
"There's no need to worry about me," she replied as she used her hand to wipe the sweat off her face. She hadn't broken her gaze off the screen since Kōya had started to the moment he finished. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she looked at his face on the holographic display.
Everything about that whole performance was just… superb.
It was better than what she had expected completely, surpassing even her highest projections.
'If I had any doubts in my heart about who would be my Knight, then I have decided,' she thought, her internal voice carrying absolute certainty.
Any other candidate that she had in mind was instantly extinguished like candles in a storm. He belonged to her now.
'I'll do everything in my power as a Shirogane to ensure that he belongs to me.'
He angered a noble known as Akari, right? She would make sure all those rumors and everything died down by tomorrow.
A simple matter of exerting influence and making strategic calls. She turned around and gazed at Mio, catching her eye.
Her look tore off the screen, and she met Misora's stare.
'Remember your job,' Misora mouthed silently. 'I want everything, or else you're gone.'
The threat was clear and absolute.
Mio bit her lip and watched Misora walk toward the exit part of the maze with a skip in her steps.
Moments after, Kōya came out from that section, still catching his breath.
He leapt over the platforms that would have helped him come back to the regular side… completely ignoring the intended path once again.
Once he landed, Misora held her hand out, and a towel materialized from her storage ring.
"Kōya-kun," she said with a smile that could fool an angel, it was very sweet and welcoming.
Kōya twitched slightly, and she saw it clearly.
Though she attributed it to the fact that she was just randomly approaching him after what he did, catching him off-guard.
Before the other girls could even try to join in and swarm him, the professor gained his bearings.
"Now that all the men are done testing! Contestant Suzuki Natsuki, you're up!" Professor Tanzaki announced, his voice carrying across the field.
Then Suzuki tore away from the crowd in her tracksuit, heading toward the lava lake platforms. Kōya looked at the towel that Misora was extending toward him with her usual practiced smile then he took it, using it to wipe the sweat and dust from his face in slow motions.
"Thanks, Class Rep," Kōya said and tightened his grip on the towel instinctively. "I can wash it and bring it back for you."
He didn't appreciate the thought of whatever this woman wanted to do with his sweat-soaked towel, knowing her, she'd probably do something creepy with it.
However, she took the edge and yanked on it with surprising force.
"I appreciate it, Kōya-kun, but I'll wash it. It is my towel, after all," she said sweetly then she yanked hard.
What followed was Kōya… despite his Enhanced Strength skill and his new two-liner physical capabilities stumbling forward slightly.
The towel was taken back into Misora's hand like she'd pulled a child.
'Fuck, I revealed a quarter of my true strength there,' she thought, glancing at the drones hovering nearby.
However, none of them were focused on them at this moment, all cameras tracking Suzuki's attempt instead.
"Thank you, Kōya-kun," she said with that same angelic smile.
He stood up properly and walked toward the building without another word.
'All I want to do now is rest…' he thought as he headed back. 'Running around in that maze sure is exhausting.'
He returned to the locker rooms, not even bothering to tune in to the stream to watch the girls' attempts.
He just hit the shower straight away, letting the hot water wash away the grime.
…
RING!!!
The closing bell echoed through the classroom, signaling the end of the school day.
"Kōya-kun, you were so cool!" Renji said enthusiastically as students began packing up.
Kōya looked at his green-haired friend with mild amusement.
"You really got the attention of the ladies like I planned, though you're strong on your own," Renji continued, grinning widely. "Maybe I shouldn't have sacrificed myself to the lava then, ne?"
Somehow Renji hadn't been hurt that much by the lava magic when he'd failed, and the face changer he was wearing was completely safe too.
It was probably a high-quality version because Kōya actually believed that this was his real face at this point.
The disguise was that good.
Kōya sighed as he cross-checked his textbooks, making sure he had everything. School after that maze trial had been boring old theories and lectures.
They would be stuck without practical mana classes until they got to the four-liner mark, and honestly, Kōya couldn't see that happening anytime soon for most of Class 5.
After making sure he didn't forget anything, he stood up and stretched.
"It's not like your sacrifice got me any girls or anything…?" Kōya asked skeptically. "None of them have even come to—"
"Amagi-kun… can I have your number?"
"Me too, Amagi-kun… I want us to get to know each other properly."
"Amagi-kun, me three… I want your number so we can be on late-night calls, ne ne~ Ouch!"
"Don't talk about something so perverted in class, baka…"
A group of girls had gathered at his desk suddenly, surrounding him completely. They were asking for his number with varying degrees of boldness.
Renji tried to pose dramatically in the background, but he was immediately pushed aside and ignored.
Kōya in turn sighed and brought out his regular phone with resignation.
"Okay… one by one…"
Apparently, ten of the girls in their class wanted his number, and he gave it to them because why not?
They were classmates, so if anything important came up, they would probably call him about it.
At least that's what he told himself.
As the girls left giggling and comparing contact info, Renji gave Kōya a smug once-over.
"Uh huh… you were saying?" Renji said with maximum smugness and his arms crossed. "Come on, let's give those dormitories a try-out."
"I'll have to pass today," Kōya said as he walked past Renji toward the door. "I have to pick my sister up from middle school…"
"The Academy only gave us a week though," Renji reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it tomorrow."
And with that, Kōya ran off down the hallway only to stop and begin walking normally as a senior wearing a black uniform appeared ahead, patrolling the corridors.
"Oi… you. Were you running?" the senior asked sharply, his eyes narrowed… Koya had just slowed and turned to a hallway so he wouldn't know.
"Absolutely not," Kōya said with a completely straight face and an innocent shrug.
The young man nodded, accepting the obvious lie.
"I better not see you or anyone…" He pointed his cane around the whole hallway at the students passing by like a weapon. "Running in this damn establishment, or I'll take 10,000 IP from your accounts, got it?"
They all nodded obediently, and the senior walked past with an air of self-importance.
The people wearing black uniforms were the Disciplinary Committee of the school, and they were pretty useless in the main events of the manga from what Kōya remembered.
He could only hope that they were more useful this time around, but yes… they did have the authorization to dock points like that.
He finally cut a turn and got out the door, breathing in the fresh air.
As he walked through the outside courtyard, girls and boys alike were waving at him with friendly smiles.
It seemed the same people who had recoiled when he asked for directions that morning were now waving enthusiastically.
"I always knew someone as good-looking as you couldn't do those bad things, Amagi-kun!" one Class 5 student said cheerfully. "It's just not like you at all!"
The others nodded in agreement, their earlier judgment completely reversed.
'What are they hoping to gain from this…?' he thought cynically as he continued walking without engaging.
「Host, they are trying to get close to you and become friends so you will show them your secrets」
'I knew that…' he thought with mild annoyance.
He walked out the Academy gates while some students made a beeline for the dormitories which were located on the right side of the campus.
He passed by a tall tree, not noticing that Mio was perched within its leaves. She was using a pair of binoculars to watch him, tracking his every movement.
"It's on," she muttered under her breath as she held a notebook and pen as well. "I'll be getting all that information… for myself."
Her tired eyes narrowed with determination.
…
Kōya ran straight to Keropolis Middle Division, and by the time he got there, his sister was waiting on a bench outside the gates.
The instant she saw him, her eyes lit up like fireworks, and she ran over in his direction with her school bag bouncing.
He caught her in a hug, and they embraced warmly.
He had gotten used to having a little sister over the past week… they were cute but troublesome too. While she was cute and lively to be around, she was also wasting his data on reels when they had to pay a lot for a monthly subscription to the internet.
"Onii-chan! How was your first day in the Academy?" she asked excitedly, pulling back to look at his face.
"My first day?" Kōya asked while bobbing his head to the side like he was thinking about it. "It was okay."
"Did you make friends?" she asked while blinking up at him hopefully.
'If you mean political pieces that I can't trust… yes, I gained many.' he thought drily.
"Yes, I did," he replied aloud.
He did consider Renji as a friend… the guy was too funny and genuine but even then, his guard was still up.
Trust didn't come easy in this world.
"But who's this girl next to you on the bench…?" he asked, noticing another child for the first time.
The girl had been scribbling in a notebook, and as she looked up at his face, Kōya swore he could recognize those features.
She resembled—
"That's my sister, Kōya-kun."
Mio's voice came from directly behind him, and he flinched slightly. He hadn't even heard her footsteps at all, which was concerning given his Sensory.
She walked past him and arrived next to the younger girl, who took her hand immediately.
"That must be your sister," Mio said with a pleasant smile.
"Ah? Rii-chan… is that your Onee-chan?" Reona asked with sparkling eyes, she was clearly excited.
The girl nodded her head shyly, and Kōya let out a sigh. Of course Mio had engineered this somehow.
"Kōya-kun… why don't we go out for a drink? We need to celebrate your victory today," she said smoothly.
Then she flashed a credit card at him while sticking out her tongue playfully.
"I'm paying!"
"Yayyy!" Both Reona and Rii, the little sisters, cheered out simultaneously while Kōya blinked.
'Well, she is persistent, I'll give her that.' he thought with resignation.
…
Soon they sat in a small cafe with a cozy atmosphere, taking a four-person table near the window.
Four cream lattes sat on their table and steam was rising from the cups.
Reona looked at hers and visibly swallowed, she wanted it so badly but was waiting for permission.
"Reona-chan," Mio said while Kōya drank his own latte. "What would you think of it if I got married to Kōya-kun?"
"Huh?" Reona looked at her with surprise.
The question caught Kōya completely off-guard… so suddenly that he spat out his drink.
It hit Mio's face directly, staining her with cream and coffee.
"Oh, sorry. Let me get that," he said quickly, reaching for the napkin on the table.
He raised it to her face and scrubbed the cream off her forehead and nose carefully.
But he noticed that her tongue had snaked out and was now licking the liquid at the sides of her mouth with deliberate slowness.
"No need to worry, Kōya-kun," she said as she took the napkin from his hand and dabbed her face completely then she threw it into her bag instead of the trash.
"I'll dispose of it properly later."
'This is a chance to get very important DNA.' she thought, barely containing her excitement.
She would not let this opportunity go to waste. Besides, the latte was sweet too.
'So that was an indirect kiss, huh?'
She raised a hand under her chin and fake-blushed, making absolutely sure Kōya could see the expression.
"I wouldn't mind it." Reona finally answered, breaking the awkward silence.
Both of them turned to her with shock.
"Eh?"
"Ehhh??!"
Kōya and Mio spoke simultaneously, their voices carrying completely different emotions… Kōya's was horror, Mio's was delight.